Although the subjects of homosexuality are considered as a shame and people often refuse to discuss it in public, some culture and traditions in Indonesia records same sex relationships and activities, or
LGBTQ behaviors.
Bissu, Calabai and Calalai The
Bugis people of
South Sulawesi divide their society into five separate
genders. Two are analogous to
cisgender male (
oroané) and
female (
makkunrai), and the remaining three are
bissu, calabai and
calalai. A
bissu refer to a person with all aspects of genders combined to form a whole. A
calabai is a 'false woman', they are generally physically male but take on the role of a heterosexual female. On the other hand,
calalai is a person who is
assigned female at birth but takes on the roles of a heterosexual male in the society.
Calabai shares similarities with, yet is not identical to, effeminate gay men and the
kathoeys of Thailand, while calalai is quite similar to
butch lesbians.
Warok and Gemblakan Particular traditional homosexual relations are exemplified in the
warok-gemblakan rituals of the East
Javanese people.
Waroks are Javanese local heroes or "strong men" that usually perform traditional arts such as the
Reog Ponorogo. According to tradition, a
warok is required to be abstinent and thus is prohibited to indulge and be involved in sexual relationships with women. However, a
warok does not remain completely celibate as having sex with boys between the ages of eight and fifteen is permitted as a substitute. The boy lover in this ritualized relationship is called the
gemblak. The
gemblak is usually kept by the
warok in his household with the full agreement of the boy's family, which included compensation. Later on in his life a
warok could be married with a woman as his wife, but was also allowed to keep a
gemblak as a lover on the side. The
warok-gemblakan relationships were thus similar to the
pederastic rituals and traditions common to ancient Greece. These traditional ritualized relationships remained especially prevalent in
Ponorogo, where there are older
warok who may still have
gemblak lovers. However, these older men have never identified as homosexuals, and neither have their young lovers. Today the
warok-gemblakan practice is discouraged by local religious authorities, especially through public moral opposition. As a result, modern-day
Reog Ponorogo performances rarely feature
gemblakan boys as performers taking on the role of
Jatil horsemen. These traditional performance roles are now mostly played by girls.
Lengger lanang Lengger lanang (
Javanese for "male
lengger dancer") is an
effeminate male that dances the traditional
lengger dance and performs the role as a woman.
Lengger dance is the
Banyumas' counterpart of
Javanese ronggeng dance. According to local Banyumas tradition, it can be performed either by women or a man dressed and dancing as a woman. The behavior involved in the
lengger lanang tradition is somewhat reminiscent of
transsexuality and
cross-dressing behavior. A male lengger dancer would wear traditional female Javanese dance attire, which includes
konde (hair bun),
kain batik,
kemben (torso wrap) or
kebaya,
selendang (sash),
kembang goyang hair jewelry, all in full make up, and they will dance as graceful and glamorous as a woman. According to Javanese beliefs, the
lengger idhang (spirit) might be incarnated into a girl or a boy, which would make them a talented and famous
lengger dancer. This belief is somewhat the remnant of Javanese Hindu-Buddhist legacy that believe in
nitis (reincarnation) cycle. This belief is often used to explain why the effeminate boy is born that way. Just like their female
lengger and
ronggeng counterpart, a famous male
lengger dancer would also become the local celebrity, as the object of admiration, affection, even coveted by men eager to court and date him. In the past, some rich and powerful men might recruit him as a mistress. Because of prevalent culture of shame regarding sexuality, any sexual encounters or emotional relations would be done in such discreet manner.
Papuan boy-inseminating rites Ritualized "homosexuality" as a rite of passage transforming boys into adult men has been recorded among
Melanesian people of
New Guinea, such as the
Simbari (or Sambia) people and
Etoro people of Papua New Guinea. On the Indonesian side of
New Guinea, similar rituals have been recorded as being practiced among the
Kimam people in southern
Papua province. Anthropologists and other experts report similar practices among other tribes. These practices are age-structured and center on young boys as rites of passage. According to certain beliefs common to these tribes, prepubescent boys are contaminated with female elements through breast feeding and continuous contact with mothers and other female family members. To avoid further female contamination, upon puberty young boys are taken from their mothers and sequestered in communal houses with other boys and unmarried men. These single-gender conditions permit boys to undertake male bonding activities and highly structured rituals, introducing and preparing these boys into proper warrior norms. Thus to wash away female contamination in preparation to become brave warriors, young boys need to ingest
semen, regarded among these tribes as the quintessential male essence. The act of ingestion itself takes the form of
fellatio or anal intercourse. The inseminators are older members of the tribes, usually uncles, fathers or older brothers of the boys' future wives. The rituals are repeated as needed and cease when the boys reach adulthood, which occurs among these tribes when the boys begin to develop beards and are married off soon after puberty. == LGBT in Indonesia ==